


Sweetest Devotion

by CreampuffedHollstein



Category: Carmilla (Web Series), Carmilla - All Media Types, Carmilla - J. Sheridan Le Fanu
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, Drama, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/F, Fluff and Angst, It's just this thing I've had in my head for a while, Slow Burn, don't hate me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-21
Updated: 2016-01-14
Packaged: 2018-05-08 06:27:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5486978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CreampuffedHollstein/pseuds/CreampuffedHollstein
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carmilla Karnstein has seen her fair share of heartache, taken more than her fair share of hard blows. From an abusive mother to an ex girlfriend that led her to tragedy and heartache, Carmilla has been knocked down more times than she can count, but she's always gotten back up on her feet. </p><p>She promised herself to never get swept up in someone ever again. Carmilla kept that promise...until she met Laura Hollis.</p><p>Laura Hollis was raised by her overprotective father after her mother abandoned them. While she loved her father greatly, she always dreamed of going off to college and having adventures. She craved the real world experience. Laura got her chance when she received a softball scholarship to Silas U. </p><p>What Laura hadn’t been expecting was the experience she would be given after running into Carmilla Karnstein. Her patience and understanding would be tested by this woman, turning her life completely upside down.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hit Me Like An Explosion

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my beta, natvanpls. I probably never would have gotten through this first chapter without you.
> 
> I've had this idea rolling around in my head for a long time now. It's nice to finally put all of those ideas into actual words. Here's to hoping you guys enjoy this.

Life always has a funny way of flipping things around for people so quickly that it disorients them, leaving them shocked and out of breath. It throws you this way and that, turns you over and beats the hell out of you. One minute, life is your best friend. The next, it’s your worst enemy. It’s the reason some people like to say that no one is a virgin, life fucks us all. 

 

Carmilla Karnstein would be inclined to agree, wholeheartedly. She was dealt a shitty hand, to say the least. It was her reason for shutting everyone out, acting like she didn’t give a damn about anything at all. Except she did.. Carmilla cared about things, it just worked out better for her if she acted otherwise.

 

This particular day was proving to be against Carmilla. To start with, the alarm clock on her phone never went off, making her sleep right through her first class of the day. When she finally woke up, Carmilla rolled out of bed and stepped into a nice fur ball, left courtesy of her cat, Bagheera. 

 

Carmilla cussed to herself and cursed the cat - who was nowhere to be found, getting up from her bed to hobble to the bathroom and wipe her foot off. Exiting the bathroom, the woman stalked towards her phone to check the time. 3.pm. glowed condescendingly at her, making Carmilla groan. So much for actually attending her favorite philosophy class.

 

“Fucking great.” She mumbled, throwing her phone down on the bed. 

 

She turned abruptly, dark hair whipping around with the motion, and stomped towards her bathroom. Carmilla slammed the door behind her rather hard and heard the doorknob rattle, followed by a rather loud cracking sound seconds later. She pivoted, eyes searching for the source of the noise. After a moment, her eyes fell to the doorknob lying on the floor.

 

Carmilly clenched her jaw tightly, hands balling into fists simultaneously, and she sucked in a tight breath. 

 

“Fantastic. My apartment is falling apart.”  She threw her hands up into the air and turned to the shower. Maybe a nice hot bath would do her some good.

 

An hour later, Carmilla was bursting her way through her bathroom door and back into her bedroom. The bath had relaxed her muscles, but her bad mood was still in place, perhaps even worse than usual. 

 

Unable to waste any more time, Carmilla threw on some clothes that she hoped were clean and left her apartment in a huff. She contemplated not even bothering to go to any of her classes, what with the way her day was going. But ultimately she decided that staying in her quiet apartment would do her no good.

 

She should have stayed in her apartment.

 

Class was excruciating. The lecture the professor gave dragged on and on and on, putting Carmilla to sleep, only to be woken up by the professor tapping her on the shoulder and calling her out on it.

 

When she left class, what felt like a million years later, she made her way to the little coffee shop on campus. Carmilla needed coffee to wake herself up and calm her nerves. She’d not been able to make any before leaving her apartment, which was pure blasphemy.

 

Thankfully, she got through her cup of coffee without spilling it on herself. At least one thing was going right for her. Spilling coffee, to Carmilla, was practically a mortal sin.

 

However, despite having her coffee, her sour mood remained. Grumbling to herself as she walked back to her apartment, Carmilla pulled out her cell phone and hoped like hell that she could score a little fun to help her turn her day around.

 

Little did she know, Carmilla’s day was about to get a little more interesting, and not for the reasons she was hoping.

 

She wasn’t paying attention to the tiny brunette struggling with a rather large duffel bag. 

 

Laura was preoccupied with carrying the heavy bag, stumbling to the side a bit every now and then as she tried to balance herself. She didn’t see the broody brunette walking towards her until it was too late. Laura looked up for a split second, trying to pay attention to where she was going, noticing too late that Carmilla was suddenly in front of her. 

 

A gasp left her mouth, feet tripping over each other as she tried to dodge out of the way. The effort was fruitless because a moment later, the duffel bag tilted and sent Laura flying into Carmilla. They both fell hard, the sound of the duffel bag and Carmilla’s cell phone hitting the ground blending together. 

 

A groan or two could be heard a second later, followed by a string of curse words. Laura scrambled to move herself off of the woman beneath her, apologies spilling from her mouth as her attempt at standing failed. She looked down towards her legs, finding the straps of the duffel bag tangled around her feet.

 

“What in the frilly hell?” Carmilla growled, eyes trying to adjust to the scene in front of her. Or on top of her, as the case may be.

 

“Oh my god. I...I’m so sorry! I was trying to carry that bag! It’s so heavy and I wasn’t looking where I was going! You came out of nowhere and I didn’t have time to stop. Are you okay? Did I hurt you? I’m so, so sorry! I shouldn’t have packed the bag so tightly…” 

 

Laura rambled on, continuing to apologize every half second. As she continued to babble, she failed to notice Carmilla’s raised eyebrow and deep set frown. It should have been obvious that Carmilla couldn’t care less about explanations, she just wanted the girl off of her. Stopping her incessant yammering would be a plus as well.

 

“I really hope you’re not hurt. I didn’t mean to run into you. It was an accident and I’ll make i-” Laura’s chatter stopped abruptly as soon as her gaze locked with Carmilla’s.

 

She hadn’t noticed, until now, how gorgeous this woman she’d knocked over was. She was mesmerizing. Her jawline was perfect, her dark curls framed her face beautifully and her eyes...god, those eyes. They were entrancing. 

 

Laura sat with her mouth agape, blatantly staring at Carmilla. Carmilla was staring back, finding herself unable to look away as well. Both women felt something stir within them, but for the moment, it was unidentifiable. Neither girl's’ gaze wavered, just an endless stretch of studying. That is, until Carmilla cleared her throat and started to wiggle her way out from under Laura.

 

“If you could get off of me,creampuff, that’d be great.” Carmilla quipped, annoyance clear in her tone.

 

That was when Laura finally snapped out of her trance, moving to let Carmilla stand. She tried to get to her feet as well, forgetting that the straps were still tangled around them. When she moved to stand, Laura tripped and nearly fell flat on her face. However, a strong hand grabbing her upper arm kept her from doing just that. 

 

Laura was abruptly hauled to her feet, hands keeping her steady as she finally kicked the straps loose and stepped out of them. She looked up once more, finding Carmilla’s eyes watching her curiously. There was a tiny smirk lingering at the edge of Carmilla’s lips, the slightest bit of amusement dancing in her eyes. The look was gone before Laura could truly identify it though, disappearing like it almost hadn’t been there at all.

 

Carmilla let go of Laura and took a step back, bending to scoop up her phone. She wiped the screen off on her pants, bringing it up to her face to inspect it for scratches. When she was satisfied that the condition of her phone had not changed, Carmilla finally looked up to the flustered girl and raised her eyebrow once more. 

 

“Maybe you should watch where you’re going next time.” She snapped, shoving her phone into the pocket of her pants. Carmilla looked down to the duffel bag on the ground, head shaking as she fought the urge to roll her eyes. “And maybe find a better way to carry that shit around.”

 

Laura blinked, taken aback by the rudeness she was being shown. She frowned and then clenched her jaw, straightening her back to try to look  more intimidating. 

 

“You don’t have to be so rude. I  _ did _ apologize.” Laura pointed out, crossing her arms against her chest. “I was even willing to make it up to you, but not if you’re going to act like I just ruined your life.” 

 

A huff escaped the tiny freshman, arms still folded tightly as she glared. She’d never been treated so rudely before. And the smirk forming on Carmilla’s face was not helping the matter at all.

 

“That bunched up face you make when you’re angry is hilarious, buttercup.” Carmilla drawled, clearly aiming to get under the girl’s skin.

 

It was working, to say the least. Laura’s face bunched up more, eyes turning to slits as she glared daggers at Carmilla. Her arms fell to her sides and her hands balled up into fists. 

 

“I wonder how hilarious it’ll be when I punch that smirk off of your face.” Laura’s temper was getting the best of her. There was a reason her friends like to call her a tiny ball of rage.

 

Unable to help herself, Carmilla tilted her head back and laughed. Really and truly laughed. She crossed her arms over her stomach, bending down a bit. A few tears came out of the corners of her eyes she was laughing so much.

 

When Carmilla finally opened her eyes, laughter dying down slowly, she was greeted with a very red faced woman glaring at her. If looks could kill.

 

“Feisty” Carmilla commented, chuckling lowly. “I’d like to see you try.” She countered, straightening her body back up to smirk at Laura once more.

 

This girl didn’t look like she could hurt a fly. Carmilla’s assumption was dead wrong.

 

Laura’s anger boiled over, fists tightening further. In the back of her mind, she knew that punching this woman could potentially screw up her pitching arm. However, the smug look on Carmilla’s face made her see red.

 

Before she knew it, her body was reacting of its own accord. Her right arm swung towards Carmilla’s face, fist tight as her knuckles connected with the woman’s jaw. Laura felt rather than heard the sick smack of fist against skin. 

 

Carmilla stumbled back, more than surprised that this girl had actually hit her. She hadn’t had time to duck out of the way, she’d been too busy still laughing to herself and being a genuine asshole. So when Laura’s fist punched straight into her jaw, an odd sound of surprise escaped her lips.

 

She managed to catch herself from fully falling to the ground, hands splaying palm down on the concrete beneath her. Carmilla was vaguely aware of the students staring at them, but shock kept her from noticing much at all. Instead, her eyes shot back to the woman who’d just hit her.

 

Carmilla’s hand immediately came up to rub at her jaw, wincing as pain shot straight through her at first contact. She pressed against the bone, hissing as a copious amount of pain made her a little woozy. She was getting ready to respond, to start cussing this girl out, but she was stopped before a word even fell from her lips.

 

“Ohhhh my god! Oh. My god!” Laura started, eyes wide as saucers. “I can’t believe I just punched you! Oh my god. I’m the worst person in the world.”

 

Laura smacked her hands to her face, groaning into them as she shook her head. When she moved her hands away from her face, just a few moments later, there was a disturbingly guilty look forming. It almost made Carmilla laugh. Almost.

 

“I am really, really sorry.” There were tears forming in Laura’s eyes and her voice began to shake. “I should not have done that. That was so wrong.” 

 

Another groan could be heard a second later and this time Carmilla couldn’t keep herself from laughing.

 

“That’s one hell of a swing you have there, cutie.” Carmilla said, taking her hand away from her jaw. Poking at it was just going to make it hurt worse. “I’ll admit, I was not expecting you to actually hit me.” There was a pause. Carmilla beamed smugly, the action followed by a sharp bite of pain. “I’m impressed.”

 

Honest to goodness, Carmilla really was impressed. She hadn’t expected someone so small to pack such a hard punch. She was going to be feeling that for days. 

 

To say that Laura was shocked by Carmilla’s response would be an understatement. If possible, her eyes became even wider before she blinked.

 

“You’re...you’re not mad?” She questioned, chewing on her bottom lip nervously.

 

Carmilla was unable to keep her eyes from wandering to Laura’s lips, the biting action being quite a distraction. However, she forced her eyes back up to lock with Laura’s before she shrugged.

 

“Annoyed would be a better word to use.” She responded, trying to resist the urge to continue rubbing her jaw.

 

“Oh,” Was the only response Carmilla received, surprise coating the word.

 

Carmilla laughed lightly once more, shaking her head.

 

“Well, this has been fun, cutie, but I gotta go.” She moved to turn, giving one last glance to the women with a smirk.

 

However, she didn’t make it two steps before she was being called out to.

 

“Wait!” Laura nearly yelled, running a few steps towards Carmilla. 

 

Carmilla turned around, raising a perfect eyebrow in question.

 

Laura looked apprehensive and a bit shy. It was odd seeing someone who’d just punched her acting so innocent. It took the tiny woman a moment, but she finally spoke up while continuing her appraisal of the ground beneath her.

 

“At least let me get you some ice for that? It’s the least I can for punching you.” Her eyes looked up bashfully towards Carmilla, staring from underneath her eyelashes. 

 

Laura’s voice sounded so small compared to what she’d sounded like just moments ago. It was almost endearing. For a moment, she thought perhaps she felt a bit bad for being such a bitch, but she ignored that train of thought all together and made herself look as bored as possible.

 

“Yeah. Sure. If that’ll make you feel better. Or whatever.” Carmilla shrugged noncommittally, turning towards Laura once more.

 

The smile that swept across Laura’s lips was nearly infectious. Carmilla really had to fight not to smile back. Which was odd because that was never an issue for her. 

 

Laura went from looking small and sheepish to bright and shiny in half a second flat. She clapped her hands together and almost looked like she was going to bounce up and down.

 

“Great! Just uh...just follow me?” She looked so hopeful, with her eyes wide and smile stuck on her face.

 

“Lead the way, creampuff.” Carmilla drawled, sweeping her hand out momentarily.

 

Laura nodded eagerly and turned away from Carmilla, walking quickly towards the dorms nearest to them. However, as soon as Carmilla started following, Laura stopped suddenly and turned around. Thank goodness Carmilla was watching this time because she nearly knocked into her again. Carmilla stepped out of the way, scoffing to herself and rolling her eyes in irritation. How accident prone could one person be?

 

“Sorry! Sorry!” Laura sputtered, looking timid again. “Just need to grab my bag.” She pointed towards it, inching away from Carmilla as she smiled shyly.

 

Carmilla didn’t respond, only watched as Laura finally turned and bent down to grab her bag. Deep brown eyes stared at Laura’s ass for a moment, smirk spread across her lips. They slowly made their way down the girl’s legs, appreciating the toned look they seemed to have.

 

When Laura straightened back up and turned around, she found Carmilla staring at her, smirking like there was something perverted going through her mind. Laura immediately blushed, looking away from the woman and striding past her quickly.

 

“So, yeah, that ice. We should get that now.” She rambled as she made her way past Carmilla, looking back momentarily to make sure she was following.

 

Carmilla chuckled to herself and trailed behind Laura, smirk still plastered on her face. This girl’s blushing was almost as good as her scrunched up face.

 

Carmilla made sure she kept just behind Laura all the way to her dorm, instead of walking beside her. It was the best view she’d had all day.

 

Carmilla sat on the edge of Laura’s bed, staring down at some god awful yellow pillow. She huffed a short laugh before looking up, watching as Laura placed some ice cubes into a small baggy. 

 

When they’d made it to Laura’s dorm room, she’d left Carmilla standing alone, dodging out to go find something to put the ice in. Carmilla had rolled her eyes at the chattering Laura was doing as she marched right back out of the door.

 

After she returned, somehow looking more embarrassed than before, she’d given Carmilla a tight smile and made her way to the small fridge in the corner of the room.

 

Carmilla’s dark eyes watched as Laura fidgeted this way and that, dropping a few ice cubes in the plastic bag now and then. The poor girl’s hands were shaking slightly as she tried so hard to fill up the small bag. Carmilla chuckled, shaking her head as she pushed herself up and off of the mattress.

 

Leaning against the headboard of the bed, arms crossed against her chest, Carmilla trailed her eyes down Laura’s fit body with a smirk on her lips.

 

“So.” Carmilla started, laughing amusedly when Laura jumped and nearly dropped the bag in her hand.

 

Laura turned around, eyes wide. However, she went from flustered to frustrated in zero point two seconds. Her eyes narrowed and her jaw tightened.

 

“You scared me. That was rude.” Laura’s tone was clipped, but abashed.

 

“And your punching me in the jaw was the picture of politeness?” Carmilla questioned, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

 

The smaller girl’s face went completely red then as she averted her eyes away from Carmilla. 

 

“No. It wasn’t.” Laura sounded ashamed. Her fingers fiddled with the bag of ice nervously.

 

“Red seems to be a good color for you, cutie.” Carmilla commented, smiling wider than before.

 

If possible, Laura’s face went even redder as she turned away from Carmilla. After a moment, she started shoving more ice cubes into the bag.

 

Carmilla continued watching her, trying hard not to laugh too loudly at Laura’s bunched up face and the less than gentle way she was filling up that baggy.

 

She had just opened her mouth to try to further Laura’s embarrassment, when the shorter woman’s voice carried over the sound of ice cracking together. 

 

“I have a name, you know.” Laura blurted, feeling quite fed up with the sugary nicknames.

 

Carmilla blinked, eyebrows shooting up towards her hairline. However, it took her a few seconds to recover and swing back into her typical behavior.

 

“And? Am I supposed to read your mind? I’m not psychic, creampuff.”

 

Laura huffed and whipped her head towards the other woman, hair swinging around and nearly hitting Carmilla in the face. 

 

“Ha ha. Hilarious.” She retorted, frowning deeply. 

 

A moment of silence followed before Laura spoke up once more. “My name is Laura. So if you could use that instead of those stupid nicknames, I’d appreciate it.”

 

Laura finished filling up the bag of ice then, zipping it closed before turning back to Carmilla. 

 

“What’s your name?” She questioned, taking one tiny step towards the other woman.

 

Carmilla was still smirking, continuing to lean against the headboard as she let herself be amused. Her eyes looked down at the bag of ice before cutting back up to Laura’s face.

 

“Oh, so now you wanna know my name? Couldn’t have asked before you hit me?” Carmilla beamed smugly, Laura’s reaction much better than she had hoped.

 

The poor girl’s mouth opened and closed repeatedly, obviously floundering for a response. Her face began to turn red once more.

 

“Woah there, sweetheart. Breathe before you give yourself a heart attack.” Carmila bit at her bottom lip, hiding the rather entertained smile that threatened to break onto her face.

 

It took Laura a moment, but she finally gained control of herself and sucked in a breath. She was mortified, to say the least, and it seemed this woman was not going to let her live any of this down.

 

“Look, I’m really sorry I punched you. How many times do I have to apologize before you stop being so smug?” It was clear Laura was trying really hard to keep her composure, which only added to Carmilla’s amusement.

 

“Hmm…” Carmilla started, tapping the side of her chin that wasn’t bruised. “I’ll let you know...cupcake.” She responded, grinning from ear to ear as she reached for the bag of ice.

 

Laura bristled, took a quick step back and retracted her hand. 

 

“Not helping.” She snapped. Infuriated would probably be the understatement of the century to describe how this dark haired woman was making Laura feel.

 

“I just wanna know your name. Then you can have your ice.” Laura backpedaled a bit, trying to keep herself from getting more frustrated.

 

She couldn’t remember the last time someone affected her like this. Probably never, if Laura was being honest with herself.

 

Carmilla’s eyes narrowed and she took a step forward. “What’s it to you? Plan on stalking me and punching me again?”

 

“I might if you keep acting like an asshole.” Laura shot back hotly, but it took all of one second for her eyes to go wide and her free hand to clap over her open mouth. 

 

Carmilla’s smug smile grew exponentially wider. She took Laura’s stunned moment to advance on the girl, standing so close that their bodies were almost touching. Leaning forward even more, Carmilla couldn’t help but delight herself in the shiver that seemed to crawl over Laura’s body from their close proximity.

 

Finally placing her mouth near Laura’s ear, Carmilla grinned wickedly. She was having too much fun messing with this woman.

 

“Carmilla.” She whispered seductively, effectively answering Laura’s question. 

 

Carmilla proudly took note of the little squeak that came from the younger girl’s mouth just seconds after.

 

Taking a step back, dark eyes studied Laura’s stunned, yet slightly aroused state. Carmilla reached her hand forward to grab the bag of ice that had begun melting. Her thumb brushed against Laura’s soft skin as she took it and she had to keep herself from shivering as well. 

 

She placed the ice gently against her jaw and almost immediately felt relief. Carmilla closed her eyes for a moment, revelling in the feel of the ice cooling her bruised jaw down. 

 

After a second or two, she opened her eyes back up and stared at Laura. Carmilla nearly got lost staring at her, feeling herself being pulled in by...something. She couldn’t quite explain it.

 

Carmilla blinked and slightly shook her head, swallowing hard as she inched away from Laura. She recomposed herself rather quickly.

 

“Well, thanks for the ice.” Carmilla let a beat of silence fill the room before adding, “Laura.” 

 

She made it a point to enunciate the girl’s name heatedly. 

 

“See ya.” She called nonchalantly, seconds later. She quickly backed away from Laura, giving a small side smirk.

 

Carmilla threw a wave towards her before turning and making her exit out of the door. She took one last look at Laura over her shoulder before the door closed and chuckled as she saw that petite woman still frozen in place.

 

As soon as the sound of the door closing filled the room, Laura let out the breath she had been holding and visibly sagged. 

 

“Oh my god.” She breathed out, shaking her head as she made her way towards her bed. 

 

Laura flopped down onto the mattress and groaned. “That was…” 

 

She let the end of that sentence linger, not knowing exactly how to describe any of what had just happened. 

 

Laura moaned exasperatedly again, almost sounding like she was in pain. She had wanted to meet new people in college, but that was nowhere near how she had imagined meeting any new acquaintances would go.

  
  
  



	2. Right Kind of Madness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It almost seemed as if her traitor brain would never let up. It’s not like she cared about this girl. She didn’t even know her. Not that that had stopped her with one night stands, but that was beside the point.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, a big thank you to my beta. You're amazing.
> 
> While this chapter is a little shorter than the first, I hope you guys enjoy it anyway.  
> Please feel free to come talk to me on tumblr, I'm under the same name there.

Three hours later, not long after night had fallen upon the Silas campus, Laura sat in her computer chair and groaned against the cool wood of her desk.

 

Upon Carmilla’s quick disappearance, Laura had promptly flopped herself onto her bed and pressed her face into her yellow pillow. She’d lain there for quite some time, the incident repeating in her head over and over again. Each time she thought about it, the worst she felt. 

 

Eventually, she’d scrambled off her bed to seek out her cell phone. She thought maybe calling Perry and LaFontaine would make a difference. Maybe they would make her feel better. Perhaps spilling her guts to her best friends about everything would help.

 

An hour later, the pair had shown up at her door, all concerned faces and worry. However, that didn’t last for long.

 

She felt as if she’d made a mistake telling LaFontaine and Perry about what had happened. Especially LaFontaine. As soon as Laura had mentioned punching someone in the face, her science friend immediately went into hysterics. They had laughed so hard that their face had gone as red as their hair.

 

Laura was more than embarrassed, gently smacking her forehead to the top of her computer desk. God, how could she have been so stupid? Punching someone was not like her, but she’d lost control of her temper.

 

She knew she was more than lucky that she hadn’t screwed up her hand in making such a ridiculous move. Sure, her knuckles were sore, but other than that, her hand was fine. It seemed Carmilla’s face had taken most of the damage.

 

For just a moment, Laura felt slightly better for spilling her guts on the outcome of the day, but LaFontaine’s reaction crushed that feeling quickly. She almost wished she had just gone to Perry instead.

 

LaFontaine’s laughter filled the room while Perry gave them a stern look of disapproval. Perry was frowning, but Laf looked like they were about to die from laughing so hard.

 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” They responded between laughs, leaning forward to grab at their knees. “It’s just...that is the funniest thing I’ve heard all week.”

 

Laura glared at LaFontaine, frowning deeply as she let out a long sigh.

 

“It’s not  **that** funny, Laf.” She said, feeling Perry reach forward and rub the side of her upper arm.

 

“It’s not funny at all, sweetie.” Perry agreed, giving one last sharp look towards LaFontaine. “But maybe you were a bit rash?”

 

Laura blushed, attempting to hide behind her hair as she leaned her head down in embarrassment. Her mouth opened slightly, to give a bashful response, but she was interrupted before she could even say one word.

 

“It’s freaking hilarious, you guys.” LaFontaine started, moving to sit on the edge of Laura’s bed. “I mean, come on, Laura hit this girl and then she flirted with her afterwards?” They looked to Perry, grinning from ear to ear. “It’s hysterical.”

 

Perry shook her head, sighing as she looked away from LaFontaine. With a sympathetic look in her eyes, she patted Laura’s shoulder and gave a sad little smile.

 

“You apologized to this girl, right?” Perry questioned, shifting her position next to Laura slightly.

 

Laura nodded, still looking distressed. The more she thought about what she’d done, the worse she felt. She was also confused as to how things unfolded afterwards. It was odd that Carmilla would flirt with her after being punched, but it was even more odd that Laura had felt butterflies rattling around in her stomach while said flirting happened.

 

“And you said you gave her some ice for her jaw. So, it sounds to me like you made amends the best you could.” Perry nodded her head, doing her best to give Laura an encouraging smile.

 

With a tiny side smile, Laura nodded her head once more and turned her chair around towards Perry. 

 

“Thanks, Perr.” She mumbled appreciatively. 

 

Perry’s only response was a sweet smile and a pat on the back.

 

Silence filled the room after that, but not for very long. LaFontaine seemed to have some sort of idea, if the smirk on their face was any indication at all.

 

“So, are you going to see her again?” They questioned, grinning wide.

 

Laura swivelled in her chair, eyebrows shooting up to her hairline in surprise.

 

“What? Why would I do that?” Her eyebrows knit together and a frown pulled her lips down.

 

“Why not, is the better question. I mean, come on, L! She flirted with you. Even after you punched her! She obviously found you hot. Plus, it’s a good way of getting to know someone, finally. You’ve been here for all of two months and the only friends you have are me and Perr. It’s time to make new ones.”

 

LaFontaine’s smile never wavered, they only continued to stare at Laura, waiting for her to agree.

 

However, Laura’s frown only deepened further as she stared back at Laf.

 

“Excuse me, but my Lit. TA is a friend, too.” Laura defended herself, huffing slightly.

 

“Um, no. Danny doesn’t count. The only reason you’ve talked to her is because she’s your Lit. TA. Honestly, frosh, you’re killing me.” LaFontaine finally frowned, mirroring Laura’s expression. 

 

Laura sighed and threw up her hands in exasperation. She didn’t want to admit that Laf was probably right.

 

“Danny counts.” She mumbled, turning back around towards her laptop. “And even if she doesn’t, that still doesn’t give me an excuse to go befriend the person I punched today. That’s ridiculous.”

 

LaFontaine rolled their eyes before shrugging their shoulders. “Whatever you say, frosh. I think you’re missing out.”

* * *

 

Darkness surrounded Carmilla as she made herself comfortable on her satin sheeted bed. Her right hand was gripping a beer, arm dangling off the edge. With her free hand, she ran her fingers through her dark curls, avoiding her aching jaw.

 

Carmilla hadn’t gone straight home after leaving Laura’s dorm. She’d made her way to the nearest place she could buy an ice pack. She didn’t have one at home and sooner or later the ice Laura had given her was going to melt.

 

The minute she had stepped out of Laura’s dorm, Carmilla found herself thinking over what had happened. But most of all, she kept seeing Laura’s scrunched up angry face. It was odd that she continued thinking about the girl who’d punched her, but it was even more out of place that she was smiling while thinking about her.

 

Carmilla, however, only brushed it off as being amused she’d gotten to the girl so much. Seeing Laura get so worked up was a riot, to say the least. Of course, she hadn’t expected for the tiny ball of rage to actually hit her. Laura seemed so...tame. It seemed Carmilla had been wrong. 

 

With a smile still spread across her lips - that she wasn’t even aware of, Carmilla took a swig of her beer and sat up. She pushed herself from the bed, leaving the beer on the nightstand, and made her way over to the full length mirror leaning against the far side of the wall. On her way there, she stopped to turn on the lamp sitting in the corner of the room.

  
Strutting up to the mirror, Carmilla bent down, turning her head to the side to take a good look at her jaw. As she pressed a finger to it gently, she winced and sucked in a breath. 

 

“Yeah, that’s gonna take a while to heal.” Carmilla grumbled, giving an exasperated sigh.

 

The left side of her jaw had already turned purple and blue. On top of that, it was swollen and slightly red around the edges. 

 

“She got me good. That’s for sure.” Carmilla shook her head, taking one last look at her jaw.

 

She was just about to turn around when she stopped and averted her eyes back to the mirror. Carmilla had been paying all of her attention to her jaw, completely missing the ridiculous grin on her face. As she realized what she was doing, the smile disappeared bit by bit. Carmilla blinked, staring in surprise at her reflection. Though the smile was gone, it was still stuck in her head. It had looked like a genuine smile. Amused, but very genuine.

 

Carmilla swallowed against her dry mouth, looking herself over once more before turning and crawling back into her bed. As she flopped down onto her back once more, she grabbed the ice pack off the nightstand and placed against her jaw.

 

Her eyes slowly followed a line up the wall before gazing up at the ceiling. As she stared, her eyes narrowed considerably. Why the hell had she been smiling? Carmilla couldn’t remember the last time she’d smiled like that. Or if she ever had, for that matter. Getting punched was not exactly a thing to be smiling about.

 

With a shake of her head and a roll of her eyes, Carmilla shut her dark eyes and tried to focus on the cool ice pack pressed against her jaw. It was going to be a long night if her mind was content with conjuring up images of Laura every few minutes.

 

As expected, Carmilla did have quite a hard time sleeping. It wasn’t entirely due to thinking about Laura and her angry face - though it did hinder her quite a bit, but also because of her jaw. Unfortunately, she had been hit on the side she liked to sleep on. Which made it more than difficult whenever she turned over and pushed her face into the cool side of her pillow. Each time Carmilla turned to that side of her face, her sleep was disturbed by pain running through her jawline.

 

Carmilla was no stranger to pain, heaven knows she’d taken her fair share of hits, but this was turning out to be a real pain in the ass. It had been years since she’d had to deal with any kind of injury, small or large, so Carmilla was pissed to find she’d grown quite soft to such discomforts, if only minimally.

 

To say that she found herself to be highly frustrated would be an understatement. Eventually, after pressing her bruised jaw into the bed for the millionth time, she threw the covers off of herself and rolled out of bed with an exaggerated sigh. She stomped into the kitchen, threw the thawed ice pack into the freezer and grabbed a beer from the fridge. 

 

Exhausted and broody, Carmilla flopped down onto her couch and turned on the t.v. She flipped through for what seemed like forever, searching for something halfway decent to watch. That too became an aggravation and she eventually just left it on some old t.v. show from the eighties. 

 

However, she barely even paid attention to whatever crappy plot was happening. Instead, Carmilla thought some more about Laura. Albeit, it wasn’t completely intentional. Anytime she tried to focus on what was playing on her t.v. screen, her mind would wander back to the small girl.

 

It almost seemed as if her traitor brain would never let up. It’s not like she cared about this girl. She didn’t even know her. Not that that had stopped her with one night stands, but that was beside the point. But she’d be foolish to say that she hadn’t found Laura captivating, almost like there was some kind of weird gravitational pull between the two of them. 

 

“Ridiculous.” Carmilla grumbled to herself, closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose.

 

Thankfully, the combination of beer and bad television resulted in her passing out on her couch half an hour later.

 

Five hours of soft snoring later, Carmilla woke up in complete disorientation. It took her a moment to even realize she was laying across her couch in a very odd position. One leg was hanging off the back of the couch, the other sprawled out across the space on the cushions. Her right hand was shoved up under her body, having gone completely numb from being lain on for quite a while. The left arm was dangling off the edge of the cushions, fingers stretched out towards the floor. 

 

When she lifted her head to look around, she felt something wet on the side of her cheek. Carmilla grimaced and swiped her numb hand across her face, wiping the spit off of herself. She righted herself and sat up properly on the edge of the couch, blinking her eyes rapidly as she tried to wake up a little.

 

After struggling to bring herself out of a disoriented fog, Carmilla finally took a glance at the clock on her wall and groaned when she found that she’d woken up far too early. It was way before noon, which meant she needed to haul her ass back to bed for a few more hours. 

 

With only a minimal amount of motivation, Carmilla pushed herself from the couch and took a step towards her room, only to catch the edge of the coffee table with her shin.

 

A fair amount of curse words tumbled from Carmilla’s mouth as she kicked at the infernal piece of wood. She bent down to rub at her shin and glared angrily at the inanimate object like she could intimidate it. Too tired to deal with more injuries, Carmilla huffed and sleepily shuffled off back to her bedroom.

 

As soon as she was close enough to her king sized bed, she collapsed heavily onto it. Immediately, Carmilla regretted that decision. She, of course, landed rather hard on the right side of her face. 

 

However, Carmilla found she was too tired to give any fucks about her jaw and rolled onto her back. It took all of one minute for her to pass out once more.

* * *

 

It was well past two p.m. once Carmilla properly woke up. That wasn’t an unusual time for her to wake up, though. Especially on days where she had no classes and no obligations. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem, Carmilla had no qualms with lazy days and the silence of her apartment. However, this particular day seemed to be intent on annoying the hell out of her.

 

Carmilla’s brain was not playing fair, conjuring up images of Laura from the previous day. It seemed sleep had not settled her mind’s weird obsession of her. The silence in her apartment was somewhat overwhelming. It only enhanced the noise that was playing in her head. 

 

It took an hour, just one measly hour of resisting, for Carmilla to finally get up and throw her yoga clothes on. If staying in her apartment wasn’t going to be the usual pleasant experience, then she was going to go and find her something, or rather someone, to keep her occupied.

 

While yoga was not exactly something Carmilla was entirely thrilled about, it had become somewhat of a hobby over the years. While it did keep her fit, she wasn’t going just to keep herself in shape. Oh no, Carmilla Karnstein had ulterior motives for joining a yoga class she kind of hated.

 

And that ulterior motive was going to help give her mind something fun to think about, instead of replaying the ridiculousness that had gone on the day before. 

 

One hour later, Carmilla was splayed out on a yoga mat by the baseball field. She was surrounded by at least ten other women, a few of them trying to stare at her without getting caught. Carmilla noticed, though. She always noticed. She knew how to use her good looks to her advantage.

 

There were two women she was eyeing, trying to make up her mind on which one she wanted to attempt to take home. She’d thought maybe trying for them both would keep her thoughts greatly preoccupied and off of Laura, but the last time she’d pulled a stunt like that, she’d been slapped. Of course, nobody knew about that incident. Carmilla had kept the entire night to herself.

 

Instead, as she moved into the upward facing dog pose, she caught the eye of a pretty blond that couldn’t seem to look away from her. Well, at least until Carmilla caught her eye and smirked.

 

It was obvious this woman had been staring at Carmilla’s stomach, along with the rest of her torso. Apparently her sleeveless crop top was having the desired effect. 

 

Carmilla’s wicked grin never left her lips as her eyes roamed the woman’s body. She was fit, looked to be just a little taller than Carmilla and had a very nice looking ass. 

 

Not even paying attention to the instructor anymore, Carmilla mentally prepared herself to start hitting on the woman who’d just been staring at her. A blush had crept over the woman’s cheeks when she’d looked back at Carmilla and found her still staring. The blushing was a good sign. It meant Carmilla had a chance of scoring a nice one night stand. 

 

However, things went from smooth to rough in just a few seconds flat. As everyone began to switch into downward dog, Carmilla happened to catch a glimpse of someone out on the pitching mound on the baseball field.

 

Normally, Carmilla wouldn’t pay any attention to the players practicing on the field. Sports had never been an interest of hers and there were always much better views around her anyway. However, the glimpse of honey hair tied up in a ponytail that caught the corner of her eyes made Carmilla’s head swing up a bit too quickly.

 

As soon as her eyes could focus a little better, she found herself staring at the very person she’d come to this damn yoga class to forget. Without realizing it, Carmilla’s mouth hung open slightly as Laura’s lithe form stretched eagerly over the pitcher’s mound. 

 

Any focus Carmilla had had on the other woman was completely gone as her eyes slowly swept down Laura’s well toned body. Laura was far enough away - and too focused on her stretching - to not even notice Carmilla was staring at her, that much was obvious. But she was definitely close enough for Carmila to see the abs on her stomach. The older girl found herself thanking whatever deity there might be for the invention of sports bras and their aid in showing off women’s abs.

 

Unable to keep herself from staring, Carmilla’s mouth went dry at the sight before her. Laura was staring down the net sitting at the base, glaring at it like it was her worst enemy. Carmilla watched as Laura kept her body relaxed, but alert, looking as if she were mentally winding herself up for the pitch. The girl moved into the standard pitching stance, reared her arm back and flung it forward, hand releasing the ball in what seemed like perfect timing. Carmilla didn’t even bother watching where the ball hit. Instead, she continued staring at Laura like she was a descending goddess, come to bless the land with her presence.

 

There was something about the way her body moved, the way Laura seemed so focused on her intended target. It was entrancing and Carmilla couldn’t seem to rip her attention away from the girl. Watching Laura pitch yet another ball almost made Carmilla want to run out and join the baseball team. Almost.

 

Carmilla was completely unaware of the people around her at this point, but that all changed when Laura suddenly looked in her direction. A bit of panic washed over her as she realized that she’d possibly just been caught staring. Carmilla scrambled to move herself into the next yoga position, trying to look nonchalant and failing **.**

 

Though she tried very hard to correct herself, Carmilla’s transition was anything but smooth. As her foot hit the ground, her ankle decided to play games with her and twist. As her foot turned in an odd direction, Carmilla reached her hand out to catch herself. She thought the rock she reached for on the ground was sturdy, but that had been an inaccurate assumption. The rock shifted, sliding against the dirt and taking Carmilla with it. Her yoga mat went flying behind her, promptly smacking into the face of the woman behind her, as her other foot slipped backwards. Carmilla crashed to the ground with a thud, leaves crumpling underneath and dust flying all around her.

 

To make matters worse as she laid there on the ground in humiliation, Carmilla heard someone giggling just a few feet away from her. When dark eyes turned up to see who was laughing, she was mortified to find it was the girl she had been flirting with.

 

Carmilla’s ego deflated even further as a blush crept up her neck.

 

She groaned inwardly and picked herself up slowly from the ground, opting to ignore the women staring at her with confused looks on their faces. Carmilla didn’t bother trying to look any of them in the eye as she moved to pick up her yoga mat. She didn’t even apologize to the woman she’d accidentally hit. Instead, she rolled up her mat and briskly turned to walk away as fast as possible.

 

As she walked off, she could swear she felt eyes watching her back. Whether it was Laura or the yoga women, she wasn’t entirely sure. 

 

All Carmilla knew, as she made her fast exit, was that she now needed to find a new yoga class to join. And make sure to never show her face around the baseball field ever again.


End file.
